US West deploys hotrod telecom service
New service means faster, cheaper connections for more users
"The biggest problem with bringing any new telecommunications
service to rural areas like the Wood River Valley is low 'teledensity.' A relatively low
number of subscribers makes paying for expensive new infrastructure difficult."
Richard Jayo, US West director of local markets.
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
US West announced Monday that it will begin deploying a high-speed
telecommunications service from within the city of Hailey.
That means a potentially more than 50 percent cost reduction for area
businesses that have been importing the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) service
from other Idaho cities. The cheaper price could also make the service more feasible for
people working at home.
Nevertheless, during a public meeting of area businesses and residential
computer users Monday in Hailey, many wanted to know when US West would bring a
potentially even faster and cheaper service called Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) to the
area.
US West director of local markets Richard Jayo, while declining to
elaborate on the time frame, said, "I think we’ve got our marching orders. I
think DSL is next on our list."
Jayo said the biggest problem with bringing any new telecommunications
service to rural areas like the Wood River Valley is low "teledensity." A
relatively low number of subscribers, he said, makes paying for expensive new
infrastructure difficult.
ISDN service comes in two versions, which computer geeks insist on calling
"flavors."
Aimed primarily at medium-sized to large businesses, Primary Rate ISDN
(PRI) provides to a single customer the equivalent of 23 telephone lines that can transmit
voice, video and other data at a rate of 1.5 megabits per second.
Another name for PRI is T1 service, Jayo said.
Basic Rate ISDN (BRI), aimed at small businesses and residential users,
provides two lines operating at a combined speed of 128 kilobits per second. That’s
about five times faster than the typical computer modem connection that most residential
users get in the Wood River Valley.
Jayo said the new BRI service will cost about $80 per month for users near
Hailey and Bellevue, with additional charges of about $65 per month for users farther
north in Ketchum.
However, there are some additional costs for getting started with BRI.
Instead of a modem, BRI requires the use of a $300 terminal adapter to connect computers
to the Internet. Traditional analog phones must be replaced with digital versions. And
analog fax machines must be either replaced or converted with an adapter.
Also, because local Internet service providers do not yet support ISDN,
users will necessarily incur long-distance toll charges by calling outside providers that
do support ISDN.
The business-oriented PRI costs from $1,100 to $2,400 per month, depending
on the level of service.
Because local businesses have until now been "back hauling" ISDN
from Boise, Idaho Falls or Pocatello at a rate of $14 per mile per month on top of the
regular subscription rate, the new local deployment means a monthly savings of thousands
of dollars for some.
Jayo said strong community involvement from Hailey area business leaders
and state Rep. Wendy Jaquet was a major factor in US West’s deploying ISDN in Hailey.
In April, US West invested in a new digital voice switch, which routes
phone calls, in Hailey. The switch accommodates the need for more residential and business
telephone lines and made deployment of ISDN possible, Jayo said.
The new digital switch paves the way for both US West and other companies
to begin providing DSL service in the near future.
Jayo said US West is also currently installing a "next
generation" broadband technology called Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), which,
"is analogous to bringing a 6-lane highway right down the middle of the valley to
Ketchum." However, the ATM is not suitable to residential phone users.
